Forged
by MidnightAria
Summary: What's this? James isn't Harry's real father? Due to a fight between the Potter's the truth comes out and now Dee and Ryo have got an unexpected surprise in the form of the Boy-Who-Lived.
1. Chapter 1

MA- Not mine. If either story were mine why would I be writing here?

Forged

Act One:

Ryo woke to knocking on the door. It took him a moment to figure out quite where he was, the dark colored sheets weren't his and the exposed beams of the ceiling and lights above him were definitely not what he woke to in his own room. It came to him after a moment.

Oh, yeah… Dee.

His partner, both in private and at work, Dee Laytner had talked him into doing a date night which had wound up similar to the first night they'd truly been together. The two men had stumbled back to Dee's place, seeing that Ryo's adopted son, Bikky, was at Ryo's place, they had been drunk more on lust than the wine they had consumed with dinner. It had been a nice wild night and had left Ryo feeling muzzy and relaxed. Turning, he frowned at the empty pillows next to him, before remembering Dee had agreed to cover a coworker's shift this morning. He sighed and pushed up from the bed, wincing a bit at a familiar stiffness and slight pain in his lower back.

The knocking came again, reminding Ryo why he had woken at ten thirty and not noon, like he had been planning to since he had been on double shifts for a while.

"One moment." He shouted while he got up and attempted to find his clothes. He found his pants and grabbed one of Dee's hooded sweatshirts and slipped both on, going sans under-things in his rush to get to the door. He kicked the random piles of clothes into an out of the way pile before finally answering the door.

There was a tired looking man standing at the door. He had dark blonde hair, shot through with a bit of gray, had bags under his amber eyes and his clothes were rumpled and looked secondhand. He seemed not much older than Ryo himself, but the stress lines and gray hair aged him quite a bit. He was holding a sleeping toddler and had a large diaper bag over one shoulder. The toddler was wrapped in a dark blue blanket, Ryo wasn't an expert, but from proud parents showing off their children's photos at work, he'd guess the child was about two-ish. The child was curled into the man, softly sucking a pacifier in his sleep, wild black hair sticking up at odd angles, it reminded Ryo a lot of Dee's hair after he got out of the shower, before he had a chance to style it with what seemed like buckets of gel and hairspray.

Ryo's thoughts stopped abruptly. He took a good look at the child again and looked back to the weary man. He had a niggling suspicion he knew what the man was doing here, but he wasn't going to jump into anything without getting facts first.

"May I help you?"

The man sighed and adjusted the sleeping child before replying. He sounded as exhausted as he looked.

"Is there a Dee Laytner here?"

Ryo shook his head, curious about the English accent, but didn't comment on it.

"No, he's at work at the moment. He'll be back around noon." The man shifted, looking down at the child. He seemed anxious. "Is there something I can help you with?" Ryo asked curiosity getting to him.

"No. No… I just hoped to talk to Mr. Laytner before I was forced to leave." Ryo's eyebrow rose.

"Forced to leave?" The man looked at the ground guiltily.

"I wasn't supposed to bring Harry here. I was supposed to drop him off at the orphanage… his fa- James, told me to leave him there. Du-a mutual friend agreed with him." Ryo caught the slips and wondered what the man had meant to say. Father, maybe? The man continued. "But we knew who… well… "He looked down at the child, Harry apparently, before looking back up at Ryo. "Who are you exactly?"

Ryo nodded to the man, "My name is Randy Maclean, but please call me Ryo, everyone seems to. I'm Dee's partner." One of the man's eyebrows rose.

"Partner as in…?" He trailed off looking at Ryo significantly.

"Partner as in lover." Ryo didn't hesitate over the admission any more. In the time they'd been together, Dee had managed to get Ryo comfortable in their relationship and just about everything that pertained to. They still were careful at work, though most of their closer coworkers and boss knew about them and were, for the most part (Barring JJ and Commissioner Rose), okay with it.

The man seemed conflicted, but nodded. "I'm Remus Lupin, call me Remus." He was about to say more when they were interrupted.

"Ryo? What's going on?" Both men turned to see Bikky standing behind Remus.

"Oh, Bikky. What are you doing here? I thought you and Carol had plans today." The small blonde haired, mocha skinned eleven year-old squeezed around Remus, who backed up a bit to let him through. He gave Ryo a hug, and clung a bit glaring up at the other startled man.

"Bikky, this is Remus Lupin, he's here for Dee." Bikky relaxed a bit, but didn't let go, he looked up to Ryo.

"Oh? Okay. What'd he do this time? Get some chick pregnant?" Ryo knew Bikky had meant that as a teasing comment about Dee's seemingly lecherous comments about gorgeous females and the fact the man was carrying a young child, but the odd choking sound from Remus had both of them looking at a slightly red Remus.

"Ooooooh. Dee's in troooouble now!" Bikky sing-songed, letting go of Ryo and standing on tip-toe to get a better look at the baby. Bikky cocked his head.

"He has his hair."

Ryo smiled wryly. "He does." He backed away from the door. "Would you like to come in Remus, I can make some tea while we wait?"

The man nodded nervously. "I don't mean to impose."

"Nonsense." Ryo gently grabbed the man's arm and tugged him in. "You look like you're about to collapse anyways, come sit for a bit at least." Remus sagged a bit and let himself be guided to a kitchen chair.

"I really can't stay long; I'm going to get grilled on my absence as it is." Ryo nodded putting the kettle on for tea. Bikky helped himself to the last soda in Dee's fridge, sitting cross legged on another chair.

"I'm assuming you're trying to leave the child, Harry, here with Dee?" Remus nodded.

"You don't seem too surprised… this doesn't happen often does it?" Ryo sighed.

"No, it doesn't surprise me, but this is the first time it's happened." He sat across from the man, "Dee and I… we haven't been together for very long, about a year. He's more loyal than a dog to me, but before me, he was a bit of a playboy… or at least acted like one. So no, it really doesn't surprise me." Remus smiled a bitter smile.

"I know that feeling. My partner is… was, the same. It took Lily locking us up in a closet together before we got together and now… well, we were virtually inseparable." He hugged Harry a little tighter. Bikky saved Ryo from succumbing to his own curiosity.

"Were? Are you guys having a fight or sumthin?" Remus nodded.

"Or sumthin." He mimicked as he shifted in his chair. "It has to do with this little guy actually. Our feelings on the matter clash a bit. Otherwise I would have been happy to take Harry in."

"Oh?" Bikky's soda was on the table and he was on his knees in his chair, his elbows on the table his hands fisted under his chin, a serious- and utterly curious- look on his face. Ryo wanted to laugh; Bikky was way too nosy for his own good… much like a rather childish dark haired male Ryo intimately knew.

"What happened? How is Harry Dee's? I thought Dee hadn't been to England until we dragged him there" The last bit had been directed at Ryo. Ryo nodded.

"He hadn't been to England until then. He did, however, spend some time in France, if I remember correctly." Remus nodded.

"Over two years ago he was in France, the same time as my friend Lily Potter… erm, Evans at the time."

"Well I s'pose that's good. She wasn't married at the time." Ryo cuffed Bikky lightly.

"Hush, Bikky. Don't be a smart-ass." Bikky just grinned.

"Better than a dumb-ass!" Ryo rolled his eyes and Remus snorted, before continuing.

"Well… I'm not sure what happened exactly, but Lily got pregnant."

"If she got knocked up isn't it a little obvious what happened?" Bikky asked, giving Remus his "Uh-duh!" face.

"Bikky if you want to remain here I suggest buttoning the lip until Remus is finished." Ryo gave Bikky his "parental glare" ("of doom" Dee and Bikky liked to add on). Bikky shut his mouth and mimed locking and throwing away the key. "Very good."

Remus chuckled. "You seem to be rather good with him." Ryo smiled.

"Some would say I get plenty of practice with Dee." Remus chuckled.

"Well, as I was saying. Other than the obvious," this was directed with a look to Bikky. "I'm not sure what happened. Lily had gotten into a big fight with James Potter, one of my best friends and her fiancé at the time, she had stormed away and we didn't see her again until the next day, almost the evening of the next day in fact. It had worried us, James especially, when we couldn't find her. I don't think any of us got any sleep that night. When she showed up the next day, James almost got into another huge fight when he demanded she tell him where she had been. In the end they made up, but she still never told any of us what had happened. A few months later she found out she was pregnant." Remus paused and was silent, deep in thought, until the whistle of the kettle startled everyone. Ryo stood and put together tea for Remus and himself.

"Do you take anything in your tea?" He asked Remus. The man shook his head.

"Plain tea is fine." Ryo set the mug in front of him and took his original seat. Bikky had shifted back to his crossed legs position. Ryo waited until they'd both had a few sips of the hot liquid before asking.

"So what happened?" Remus took another sip before placing the mug back on the table, being careful of Harry.

"She wasn't sure who the father was. She had married James not even two weeks after the incident. She had been really nervous for a while before she finally told James. I thought it was just new mother nerves. They wanted a child, so when she told James he was ecstatic. I suppose it's a good thing both father's looked very similar… in fact, I think she was counting on that."

Bikky interrupted. "How'd she know it wasn't that James guy's?"

"She had apparently gotten a paternity test done in secret before Harry was born. I don't know if she had meant for his true parentage to ever be known, but apparently it got out… James found out."

"That can't have been pleasant." Ryo murmured. Remus nodded in agreement.

"It wasn't. He came over to Sirius and my place."

"Sirius? Seriously?" Bikky quipped. Remus chuckled.

"My partner- and that is a VERY old joke. I've heard it at least once every single day since I first met that man." He took another sip of tea. "Neither Sirius nor I were present for the fight, but James came over that night and so we saw the aftermath. He ranted and raved for a good while, we tried to calm him down, but it wasn't working. It was during this time that someone came looking for us… no one had known James had come over, the au-officer that knocked on our door was a coworker of James and Sirius."

"James was a cop?... wow, that Lily person really had a thing for law enforcement didn't she?" Bikky interrupted again. Remus nodded.

"I found it rather ironic as well when I found out Harry's real dad was an officer- A detective right?" Ryo nodded. "James was essentially the same." At Ryo's curious look Remus commented, "British system's a bit different, but basically James and Sirius are both in what would be considered the detective division."

"Ah." Ryo really hadn't examined the differences in American versus British law enforcement when the British police had questioned Dee and him both during the hotel murders so he honestly didn't know how different the system was there or not.

"Where was I? Ah, apparently… Oh, I forgot to mention, James and his family were being targeted by a terrorist at the time, he was supposed to be in hiding. To be honest, I'm sure that's what started the whole fiasco- cramped quarters, spending too much time with one single person can grate on the nerves after a while and they had been there for a few months." Ryo nodded, even if it was Dee, spending an extended period of time with just that person would drive him insane. A mental eyebrow rose though. A terrorist? Was Harry going to be safe if he stayed with them?

"So I'm guessing that this terrorist decided to attack while James was gone?" Remus sighed deeply, closing his eyes in grief.

"Lily had tried to fight him off, but he killed her. She had managed to injure him enough that the worst little Harry here got was a cut on his forehead…" He managed to maneuver the boy enough without waking him to show a rather fresh, half-healed lightning bolt scar, almost hidden by his messy black hair. He settled the boy back into a comfortable position. "…before the man succumbed to his own wounds. James was in shock. Despite the fights, he loved Lily deeply. When he found out that Harry had lived… that Lily had sacrificed herself for a child that wasn't even his… well… Sirius and I took Harry in until James made a firm decision. Turns out Lily named Harry's father in her will, she wanted Harry to go to Dee if something happened to both her and James. James was furious. He told me to take Harry to an orphanage… that he wouldn't care for another man's bastard. I'm hoping most of what he said was out of grief… he had always seemed to love Harry… always wanted to be near him, play with him… but…" Remus halted, bringing a hand up to swipe away tears. "He told me to get rid of him, but I couldn't. No child should grow up without a loving family if they don't have to. It didn't help that Dumbledore- a man James sees as a grandfather- was encouraging James to give Harry up as well. So I took Harry and went to find his real father." Remus was staring at his tea now, as if it held all the answers.

"You found his real father to see if he wouldn't be as heartless as to turn a child away, just because of an accident that wasn't Harry's fault in the first place." Ryo finished. Remus looked up, eyes full of unshed tears. He nodded, looking hopeful. Ryo rather liked this man, working as a cop didn't really give him a pleasant view of society. Finding a man who would hunt down a child's father just out of hopeful wishing that the child would grow up loved was rather refreshing.

"We're not really equipped to handle a child so young…" Remus' hopeful face fell a bit. "But, I know Dee loves kids. He's an orphan himself and still goes back to where he grew up to visit the kids there, they seem to love him." Remus looked like he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. "I get the feeling you don't have issues with my relationship with Dee… and of course he'd have Bikky as an older brother…"

"I promise I won't be toooo bad of an influence." Bikky piped up, bouncing in his seat excitedly. Ryo smiled, so much for worrying about how Bikky'd take another kid in their odd little family.

"We're both cops, detectives, so I can't promise he'll be completely safe, but I can promise we'll do all in our power to keep him as safe as possible. He would of course be loved. You are right, no child deserves to be hated for something out of their control." Remus was crying in what, Ryo hoped, was relief.

Remus scrubbed his eyes with his free hand.

"Thank you. Thank you so much!" He smiled at Ryo gratefully, "I was so afraid I'd have to leave him at an orphanage, it's wonderful to know he's going to such a great home. Like I had said, I would've adopted him myself, but that would have caused so many problems, not just with James." Harry chose this moment to wake, fussing and wiggling a bit before finally opening his eyes. He looked up at Remus.

"Mooie!" He squealed around his pacifier. Remus smiled at the childish name, He stood and walked around the table to Ryo.

"Hey cub. I have someone I want you to meet, okay?" He turned him to get his attention onto Ryo, "This is Ryo… he's going to be taking care of you from now on."

Ryo was shocked. The big green eyes staring at him curiously from under messy black bangs were very familiar. Any doubt of Harry's parentage left him- those were Dee's eyes, those gorgeous green eyes that were Dee's tell- all his emotions were there to see, Ryo only had to look in Dee's eyes to know what the man was thinking. And his son had inherited them.

"Wooow, he has Dee's eyes!" Bikky was leaning over the table staring at the child. Harry's attention flickered over to Bikky at the outburst. He laughed and held out his arms, his hands grasping.

"Up, up!" He said stretching as far as he could toward Bikky. Bikky's blue eyes were huge as he looked first at Ryo, then Remus.

"Can I?" Remus chuckled

"If you're careful and sit down while you're holding him I don't see why not." Bikky plopped down in his chair properly and Remus walked around Ryo to set Harry down in Bikky's lap. Ryo watched his adopted son holding the happy toddler- who seemed to be fascinated by Bikky's bright blonde hair- with something akin to wonder. A touch on his shoulder startled him, he turned to see Remus' concerned face.

"Is everything okay?"

"It's fine." Ryo reassured. "I was just a bit shocked. He really does have his father's eyes."

Remus hmm'd before straitening and crossing his arms, looking at the boys in contemplation.

"That's rather interesting. Most of James and Lily's friends thought he had inherited Lily's eyes, she has green eyes also, but I had always thought they were a bit darker than hers… but, I always have had better eyesight than most." It was Ryo's turn to hmm.

Remus looked at the clock on the kitchen wall and cursed under his breath.

"What's wrong?" Remus looked back at Ryo.

"I really didn't want to cut and run, but if I don't get going now I'm going to have a lot of people asking uncomfortable questions." Ryo nodded.

"We'll take care of him. I can explain to Dee." Remus nodded hesitantly.

"Are you sure?" Ryo made a shooing motion.

"Go we'll be fine." Remus sighed, taking one last long look at Harry, who was still quite distracted by Bikky.

"It's probably best to leave now with him distracted anyway," He reached for the large diaper bag that he had set by his chair. "There're some changes of clothes, some food and diapers, a few of his favorite toys. I also managed to get his official paperwork, his birth certificate and such… there's also a letter from Lily to Dee in the folder with the paperwork." Ryo accepted the bag, setting it by his chair and escorted Remus to the door. Remus paused once more as he opened the door, turning a grateful look to Ryo.

"Thank you for this. I really think Harry will be happiest here." Ryo smiled at the man.

"It's no problem. I'll do my best to live up to expectations." Remus smiled and left the apartment, closing the door quietly behind him. Ryo turned back to the youngest members of his family and smiled as Bikky tried to get his hair out of the death grip of an excited toddler.

"Yeouch! That's attached to my head Harry! Let go already!" Harry just giggled bouncing on his prisoner's lap tugging harder on the blonde strands.

"Argh!"

XOXO- Noon-ish-OXOX

Dee whistled as he walked down the hall to his apartment. All was good in the world; he'd gotten laid, had an easy shift, had the rest of the day off to spend with the most gorgeous man in the world, the little apes were on some day trip until late and he had the good luck to find a twenty dollar bill in the gutter on his way from the car. Not only was it a good day, it seemed his luck was up too. Maybe he should take Drake and them up on that poker game tonight? He'd be sure to wipe the table with them.

Dee got to his door, opening it and stepping in dramatically, called out, "Honey! I'm home!"

A childish giggle answered him, followed by Ryo's voice.

"In the kitchen Dee." Dee closed the door and went to the kitchen in puzzlement. He was met with the sight of Ryo trying to feed green mush to a toddler in a highchair and succeeding in getting the green mush everywhere except in the kid's mouth. Under the green mush the kid had very familiar wild black hair and green eyes. Dee's mouth dropped.

"Welcome home Dee." Ryo said without even turning from the mush covered, unexpected development in Dee's plans for his life.

A snicker from the table had Dee's attention going to Bikky, who was devouring a grilled cheese sandwich. Bikky swallowed before grinning and declaring, ala Ricky Ricardo (1),

"Dee-eee, you got some 'splaining to do!"

END CHAPTER ONE

(1) Ricky Ricardo is off of "I Love Lucy"… if you haven't seen or heard of it… well, it's an old show, they used to show it on Nick Night… haven't watched it in a while, so I'm not too sure.

MA: I love FAKE! It has a special place in my heart. I love Sanami Matoh's stories and art they're gorgeous. So when I got inspired- this actually started out in the Finders series world (a Yaoi series, by a different author, with great art, plot (well… as much of a plot as you're gonna find in this genre) and all the smut you could want ^.^)… until I just couldn't get the plot to move anywhere, I switched it to FAKE and the story wrote itself.

I know SOMEONE's gonna mention this, so I'll just explain now. Dee has green eyes in the manga. At least in the English translation I have (it's in book 7, the first sex scene- Ryo mentions "the deep green of his eyes"). I know the OVA has Dee with yellow/amber eyes, but to be honest- I hate the OVA- therefore I am going with the manga.

AN: Pairings are Ryo/Dee, Remus/Sirius, Bikky/Carol… if anyone has a suggestion for anyone else let's hear it, the worst I can do is say no. ^.^

Please review ^.^


	2. Chapter 2

Act Two:

Dee-

If you are reading this, than I am dead. Wow what a sad and depressing way to start a letter, but it is the truth none the less. You have most likely been informed about your son, Harry James Dee Laytner, by now. The man I married, James Potter- remember? The elitist jerk I couldn't stop complaining about?- would never have accepted a child from another man with his wife. It is unheard of in his social circles and more often than not results in divorce and a huge scandal, mainly for the woman. So I lied and claimed Harry was James', the hospital I was at was exceedingly easy to trick into creating two birth certificates- one for James sake, the other the real one. I admit, I hadn't thought I would need to use it, but with what has happened recently… I fear the worst. If the worst has happened… well, my dear little Harry is now yours.

We really didn't know each other long or well, but I had a feeling from the start that you would never turn my baby away, even if the man I loved did. Please take Harry and raise him as your own, however you will. Let him know I loved him very much and miss him, that I will always be proud of him, that I'm watching over him… you know, all those nice motherly sentiments. I only ask you raise him with an open mind. When he turns eleven he will get an invitation to the school James and I both attended in Scotland. I know it may be a bit much, but it would mean a great deal to me if you could let him attend.

Enclosed with this letter are a few photos of Harry and I, as well as the information for a bank account with money for Harry. Thank you Dee, I'll miss you and Goodbye.

Your Friend?

I hope,

Lily Potter (once known as Lily Evans)

Dee read over the letter again for what seemed like the millionth time. After the shock of a lifetime and some good natured, albeit rather irritating, teasing from Bikky- Ryo had been quiet… worryingly quiet- Harry had been bathed and put to sleep, surrounded by pillows on Dee's bed and Bikky had been sent back to Ryo's place. Dee had showered and changed into sweats and a tank top before finally reading through the paperwork and Lily's letter. There was indeed a birth certificate, as well as some banking information for an account she had set up for Harry, it seemed the fiery redhead had as good a head for money and saving it as Ryo did. Dee swore to himself not to touch the money until Harry's college, or possibly that school she mentioned… hmmm… hafta look more into that.

He remembered the encounter with Harry's mother well, she had been one girl he might have thought of going serious with, if it hadn't been abundantly clear she was head over heels in love with that James guy. She was intelligent, stubborn, sweet, gorgeous, and rather fun in bed. Lily- Evans at the time- had been getting drunk in the same bar he had been in. He had actually been drawn to the fact she was cursing her elitist jerk boyfriend (fiancé, she had apparently failed to mention), not so quietly, in English. Dee had struck up a conversation with her in relief for a break from French, while he was surprisingly fluent in French it was nice to get some relief from it every once in a while. After a large quantity of alcohol- Dee wasn't sure how much exactly, but his wallet was definitely a lot lighter the next morning- Someone- again the haze of intoxication wouldn't let him remember exactly who- had got the brilliant idea to return to Dee's hotel room. He remembered snippets of that night, enough of the sex to know it had been great. The next morning… well the hangover was killer… for both of them. They had avoided talking about anything until after both had showered, dressed and were eating a room service breakfast brought by a far too cheerful bellhop. The tension had been thick enough to cut. After a bit of dancing around the subject, Lily finally came out and claimed it hadn't necessarily been a mistake, but was definitely up there on her list of rather bad decisions. Dee didn't take it badly, he would have been willing to pursue something with her, but respected her decision. They had spent a few hours chatting, had a nice lunch at a small café and then parted ways- presumably to never see each other again.

'Well,' thought Dee, 'we never really did see each other again. Would have been nice to know I was a father a bit sooner though…' He couldn't really hold that against her though. To inform him would be to admit to an affair, especially if Dee had decided to claim his son.

He rifled through the papers, to the photos. There were three; one of Lily in a hospital bed, obviously exhausted after giving birth to the little boy wrapped in a blue blanket, the second was of Lily reading a book to the wide eyed baby on her lap, the last was Lily stretched out on a couch, Harry Laying asleep on her stomach as she rubbed his back and smiled sweetly. She looked just like Dee remembered. He smiled sadly, he would miss her, but would remember her fondly.

A soft rustling behind him alerted Dee to his partners return from his own shower. Dee was nervous about Ryo's reaction to this new development in their relationship. He knew Ryo liked kids, the house apes (also known as Bikky and Carol) were proof of that. However, this… this was a bit different. He turned in his seat to face his love, who was putting the kettle on. Dee smiled. Good ol' Ryo, when in doubt, serve tea. He waited for the kettle to be put on the stove, mugs on stand-by nearby, before reaching out and pulling the slighter man toward him, wrapping his arms around Ryo's waist and burying his nose into the man's stomach. Ryo's hands automatically wrapped loosely around Dee's shoulders in a soft hug.

"Talk to me Ryo." He pleaded softly, his voice muffled by the baggy tee-shirt Ryo wore. The arms around his shoulders tightened a bit and there was a soft sigh, before they pulled back and pushed away. Dee looked up, worried by what he might see. He was a bit surprise to see a look of fond exasperation in his love's face. Dee was hopeful.

"Ryo? Love?" The man shook his head, sighing again.

"I want to be mad you know." Dee tilted his head curiously to one side.

"You're not?"

"Not really, no." Ryo smiled. "I was a bit at first… but to be honest, it was mostly out of jealousy."

Dee's eyebrow rose. Ryo had been jealous before, like when JJ joined the force, but it had been a while since it had happened.

"She gave you something I'll never be able to. A family. And while we both have quite a bit of family that are not blood related… for some reason it just hit me hard. Harry is yours. Truly yours." As Ryo talked he seemed to draw into himself, arms crossing his chest protectively. At the last statement, Dee had enough. He stood abruptly, surprising Ryo, and gathered the man to himself in a tight embrace. Ryo stood stiffly before relaxing and returning the embrace, his head resting on Dee's shoulder.

"I guess…" Ryo continued after a long silence, "I guess I was also afraid."

"That now I had Harry I wouldn't want you?" Dee guessed, correctly, as Ryo simply nodded. Dee nudged Ryo's head up and gave him a soft kiss. "I will always want you love. Our son won't stop that."

Ryo gaped at him, wide-eyed. "Our…"

Dee chuckled, "I know it's not really biologically possible, but seeing as Harry kinda needs a mother figure… and I know you've done a great job with Bikky…" Ryo scowled at his teasing, smacking his shoulder lightly in retaliation.

"I'm not a woman, you know." Dee grinned.

"I know, quite well in fact." He kissed the scowling man again. "Seriously though, I would love for you to be a part of Harry's life… that is… if you'd like to be."

Ryo softened, smiling again. "You already know my answer."

Dee gave him a squeeze. "Good. Otherwise I might've had to pull out the big guns."

"Oh?" Ryo's eyebrow rose.

Dee grinned. "I'd have to wake Harry and give you the double puppy dog eyes of doom!" He demonstrated, pouting his lips and opening his eyes big, giving Ryo that adorable kicked puppy look… or so he'd been told. Ryo snorted.

"More than likely you'd get a cranky toddler who wondered why the hell you disturbed his nap."

Dee shrugged, dropping the pout. "At least then you'd feel obligated to take care of Harry and lecture me on the needs of baby's… which would achieve my goal of you being in our lives forever." He grinned as his lover rolled his eyes. The teapot started to whistle and Ryo stepped out of Dee's embrace.

"You're terrible."

"But you love me."

"…" Ryo stayed silent as he turned off the burner.

"Right?" more silence followed by a slightly worried "... Ryo?"

Ryo chuckled, "You know I do."

XoX-At the precinct-the next day-XoX

Ryo followed his partner out of the elevator on the second floor, where their office- and the chief's office- were located. Dee seemed to be whistling a cheerful tune as he strolled down the hall, drawing odd looks from those who didn't know him and looks of fond exasperation from those who did. Ryo nodded a greeting back to a few people who called out and mostly ignored the curious looks at the half asleep toddler sucking his thumb in his arms and the diaper bag on his shoulder.

"So!" Dee stopped, opening and holding the door to their shared office. "I'll get the old badger, you and junior wait here." Ryo nodded, shifting Harry more comfortably on his hip and entering the office.

Harry didn't seem inclined to be set down, so Ryo sat in his chair with Harry in his lap. Harry was starting to wake up a bit, the jet lag and time differences had made getting the cranky toddler up and going a huge chore for all of them. The big green eyes blinked owlishly up at Ryo for a bit before Harry mumbled incoherently around his thumb. Ryo smiled fondly while gently pulling Harry's thumb out of his mouth.

"Say that again sweetie, I couldn't quite hear you with your thumb in the way," Harry's nose scrunched a bit in irritation, but he repeated what he said- or so Ryo assumed.

"Baabaa." Ryo nodded and let go of Harry's thumb, which promptly was set back in his mouth, and reached into the diaper bag, pulling out the bottle of milk Ryo had stuck in there earlier when Harry hadn't seemed quite awake enough to be hungry earlier. Holding it in front of Harry he asked.

" You want your bottle?" Harry's free hand reached to take the bottle, fingers grasping. "Ahah" Ryo held it a bit out of reach, "Say please." Just because Dee could be a rude pain in his butt didn't mean he couldn't teach Harry any better- hopefully good manners, or lack there-of in this case, wouldn't be genetic. Harry looked a bit put out.

"Baabaa!" He demanded.

"Please." Ryo stated clearly. Harry tilted his head to the side, thumb forgotten for the moment. Ryo had to contain an "Aww" at the almost kitten-ish impression.

"Baabaa… peez?" it was an unsure question, but Ryo figured he'd gotten his point across for the moment and handed Harry the bottle.

"Please. Yes. Good job Harry, that was very polite of you." Ryo praised. The boy grabbed the bottle smiling.

"Peez baabaa!" Harry babbled gripping the bottle with both hands before finally drinking, his wide green eyes staring up at Ryo happily.

A knock on the door frame and a familiar voice startled them both.

"Hey Ryo, we heard the strangest thing out in the hall..." the voice trailed off as Ryo looked over. Drake and Tim were standing in the doorway both staring at the toddler in his lap, who also happened to be staring right back at the new people.

"Dear lord in heaven he's multiplied!" Drake whispered, none to quietly, under his breath. Tim elbowed him in the ribs as Ryo snorted.

"It is a bit obvious who is father is isn't it?... it is Dee's right?" Tim asked, "I mean… it's not just some kid you adopted that just happens to look like Dee right? Cause that'd be kinda weird… like JJ obsessive kinda weird and…" it was Drake's turn to elbow Tim, "And I'm gonna shut my trap now ok bye." He turned to scurry away, but smacked into the shorter gruff man that was their boss and the chief of police for their precinct. "Oops."

"Don't you two have work to do?" The man demanded.

"But we just wanted to see with our own eyes…" Tim trailed off at the glare leveled at him. "and now we're going." He grabbed Drake's arm as he ran away, dragging the poor guy behind him. The chief nodded once before turning his attention back to Ryo and Harry.

"So this is the munchkin." He and Harry stared at each other for a few moments before Harry reached an arm out to the older man, his hand grasping. The chief plucked Harry out of Ryo's lap and snatched the diaper bag up as well. Ryo was a bit surprised.

"Sir?"

"You and Dee have a case to finish today, and then I'm giving you a week off to get this guy settled. For today I'm going to keep an eye on him. It's my paperwork day, so it's not like I'm leaving my office anytime today… if I need you I have your numbers. Dee's in autopsy, I'll see you when you two are done." And with that the older man was gone.

Ryo sat and blinked a few times.

"What on earth just happened?"

XooX- Elsewhere- XooX

Ryo ran into Dee on the way downstairs, almost literally. Dee had the autopsy results in hand and, thankfully, looked up at the right moment to prevent his rather distracted boyfriend from crashing down the stairs.

"Ryo?" He asked as he held onto Ryo's arm as the man regained his balance.

"Sorry," Ryo smiled at him, "The chief just kind of caught me off guard there."

"Ah." Dee chuckled. "The ol' badger has a huge soft spot for kids. He has like five grandkids and doesn't get to see them as often as he'd like."

"Oh." Ryo nodded, "that makes sense, he just stormed in and kidnapped Harry so I wasn't sure what was going on."

Dee laughed, tugging Ryo back up the stairs. "Come on I got the autopsy results, it's just like we thought, same M.O. as the last two. Homeless, male, late thirties/early forties… and the best part… It's the same knife." Ryo looked up at Dee in surprise.

"The same knife?! So the witness was right!" Dee nodded. The two continued the conversation back to their shared office. With the recent break-through the rest of the case was in the bag, it would more than likely be an early day for them.

OoXx- In another galaxy… far, far away… okay, so maybe just across the pond in London, England –xXoO

James Potter sat sprawled on a black leather love-seat in the parlor of the shared home of his friends Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. The two men shared a townhouse, similar to Sirius' parents home on 12 Grimmauld, and had room to spare. So when James had asked to crash for a while after Lily's death- the house at Godric's Hollow near completely destroyed, and James unwilling to be completely alone in any of the large manors and other properties that had been passed down in the Potter family- his friends had been more than willing to take him in.

Well, Sirius had been more than willing. Remus had been avoiding both men after James' decision with his s… with Harry.

James winced, glancing down to the open album on his knees. It was full of pictures of Lily and him. The album had been a gift to Lily from her friend, Alice Longbottom, for when she had found out about Lily's pregnancy. Only the first couple of pages had photos, the rest were to have been filled as the family grew. James had it open to the last filled pages, where the photos with Harry started. He had wanted to tear these photos out. Burn them. Shred them. Deny their existence. Deny that he had ever had a son. But he hadn't. He couldn't. Even if Harry had never been his, he had been Lily's. He had been a part of the woman he had loved and it had been beyond obvious that Lily had loved Harry. Complete strangers had commented on what a brilliant and loving mother Lily had been. Seeing Lily pregnant had been one of the most beautiful sights James had seen. And now he would never see it again. He would never see his Lily again.

The boy he had originally believed to be his, would never be seen again either. When Remus had returned from the orphanage- and oh how James had to hold himself back from asking exactly where he had dropped Harry off at- James had seen the look Remus had given him, one filled with disappointment and disgust. The typically mild mannered man had brushed James of without a word, heading up to his room, the slamming door echoing around the quiet house. Sirius was out of the country on an assignment for another week. James knew it was going to be an uncomfortably quiet week.

He couldn't stand it. He missed his Lily-flower. How she always made things right, how she made his life so much brighter, so much warmer. He missed her laugh, her intelligence, her fiery hair- and temper to match, he missed those bright, knowing green eyes…

Eyes that her son had inherited…

James stopped that thought. No. He didn't want to remember.

He focused on the album in his lap, on the last picture in the book. Alice had taken the photo just before the two family's had gone into hiding. It had been Frank's, Alice's husband, Birthday and one of the rare times the two light family's had been able to be carefree and celebrate.

Lily was holding Harry while James had his arms around both of them, both parents watching as the little boy played with a stuffed dog Sirius had gotten him, the picture didn't have sound, but someone (in this case it had been Alice calling to them) had caught all three of their attention. All three had looked up smiling and laughing. Harry had his mother's eyes. His mother's smile.

Water drops splashed onto the protective cover of the album. James startled, bringing a hand to his face when he realized he was crying. Wiping his eyes, he closed the album and reached for the unopened bottle of Ogden's sitting on the side table next to him.

XXxxx- End Act 2- xxxXX

MA- I'm sosososososo sorry about the no upates thing… I really like this story and I'm so glad so many others like it as well- I hope you guys can stick with me and my erratic updating. I have a ton of other stories to get up and updated as well X.x…. yikes I'm so behind X.x


End file.
